1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a non-driven pallet transport device for receiving pallets, which has projections that are correspondingly received in designed docking receptacles of a driven pallet transport device. The projections form extensions of roller conveyors on which the pallets are displaceable. The pallet transport device has at least one securing element including a shaped body which is pivotally seated around an axle extending in a displacement direction of the pallet. The pallet transport device has at least one three-dimensional activation surface and a securing surface extending vertically to the displacement direction.
2. Description of Prior Art
A conventional pallet transport device is taught by European Patent Reference EU-B-0263784. A securing element for fixing a pallet or a container, for use in aircraft, on a roller conveyor is described in this reference. Operation of the securing element is accomplished either with a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, actuable on both sides, or simply mechanically via rods or a pull rope with a lever.
Increasing attempts are now being made in airport applications to automate handling of the pallets. The pallets are moved out of the aircraft on a lifting platform, are lowered with the lifting platform and then are picked up by a mobile pallet transport device. The pallets are then transported to an empty, non-driven transport device or are transferred from the mobile pallet transport device to the non-driven pallet transport device. Many of these non-driven pallet transport devices contain relatively complicated mechanical systems for moving the pallets on the roller conveyor of the non-driven pallet transport device. Lately, use of such approach has diminished. Instead, the non-driven pallet transport devices have two projections forming extensions of the roller conveyor and are suitable for docking with the driven pallet transport devices. In this connection, the projections of the non-driven pallet transport devices extend into the docking receptacles of the driven pallet transport devices. By docking one of the two pallet transport devices with the other, it is possible to mechanically design the non-driven pallet transport devices to be relatively simple. However, the requirement for automatic locking of the pallets on the non-driven pallet transport devices opposes such design. Hydraulic operation of the pallet securing elements would require an appropriate hydraulic coupling with the mobile driven pallet transport device, while the purely mechanical solution using a lever opposes the desire for automation. In addition, a solution is relatively complicated in a mechanical sense. Finally, the known solution by use of a pallet securing element is nearly impossible to position at the desired place, namely in the area of the projections.